I’m sure you’ve all heard the phrase “The Ugly Singaporean” before. It’s a catchy phrase that has really caught on maybe because it sort of sounds like some classification of animal like “The Speckled Hen” or “The Spotted Sandpiper”. “The Ugly Singaporean” is some kind of feral beast that belongs in a zoo where you can watch and marvel at their ugliness, ooh at their obnoxiousness and ahh at their selfish behaviour from a safe distance. They don't belong here with us on this side of the perspex glass, the civilized civilian side. Sadly Singapore is not arranged in this manner. We all live out here, in the wild…

These animals share the very same habitat we live in. Their bad behaviour creates an unsightliness and unpleasantness to the other people that share the public space, which there isn’t a lot of. It’s like they’re marking their territory with their urine creating a stench that the rest of will just have to live with. The question is how exactly do we respond to The Ugly Singaporean? Most of us just resort to complaining. Why are they like that? Why??? Tsk!!!

The thing is though the Ugly Singaporean is not that different from most of us. We, the righteous, who so callously call these people ugly are no better ourselves. Us humans can either have a positive or a negative impact. The spectators that remain neutral have no impact so might as well not exist in this equation. If you think that there is something another human shouldn’t be doing, it is your duty to tell him or her. Don’t hide behind your monitor or your screen bitching about it because nothing will change, only your morale. We need our legions of smart-phone warriors to put down their gadgets and to try to make a real world difference by facing up to The Ugly Singaporean and exchanging a few words. It’s a simple choice between facing the ugly or joining them by being okay with their behaviour.

P.S. we love animals and regret having insulted any by comparing them to The Ugly Singaporean. Animals are infinitely better <3<3<3